The challenge of security budgeting
If your security investments keep getting pushed to the next quarter or are never approved at all, you might be missing a key strategy—financial storytelling.
Security leaders who align security initiatives with business impact see better outcomes. According to IBM's 2024 Cost of a Data Breach Report, the global average cost of a data breach reached $4.88 million in 2024, marking a 10% increase from the prior year—the largest yearly jump since the pandemic. When seeking budget for your security program, consider these questions:
- How does security protect operations and delivery?
- How does security ensure business continuity?
- What’s the financial impact of a security failure?
- How can security investments support growth?
These are the topics that build your case for more program funding. Understand the impacts of not getting budget and ensure you can tell that story effectively.
Speaking the language of business risk
CISOs face the constant uphill battle of justifying their security budgets year after year. Too often, we hear conversations leaning toward qualitative asks like "we need more training" or "we need better tools" without tying them to quantitative business risk impact.
But imagine walking into a budget meeting and saying:
“If we don’t invest in this initiative, we risk losing $2M a day due to downtime, breaches, or ransomware.”
Executives understand risk in financial impact. Yet, many security leaders focus on metrics that don’t resonate—phishing failures, ticket closures, incident response times, or security awareness training stats. The same IBM report indicates that organizations deploying security AI and automation extensively across their security operations center incurred $2.2 million less in average breach costs compared to those without such technologies.
The real question that security leaders need to be able to answer is:
“How does security directly protect revenue generation, maintain service delivery, and enable the business to continue to grow?”
Security budgeting needs to be a financial business strategy that protects the organization to risk of service delivery and revenue generation. If CISOs don’t frame it that way, they’ll continue to fight for every dollar.
Earning a seat at the Table
Many CISOs don’t get a seat at the table until it’s too late. They’re called into quarterly board meetings, given 15 minutes to present "the state of security," and then dismissed.
Here’s the problem we see:
- Security isn’t embedded in broader business strategy.
- Security is seen as a cost center; not a business driver.
- Security leaders lack financial literacy and mentorship to align security with business priorities.
- Budgeting is reactive, not proactive.
To change this, CISOs must:
- Frame security as a revenue enabler, not a cost center. According to Gartner's 2024 Technology Adoption Roadmap for Security and Risk Management, 73% of security and risk management leaders expected their budgets to increase in 2024, but only about one-fourth of those anticipated budget increases expect increased purchasing power.
- Be involved in key financial and strategic discussions—don’t wait for an incident to earn a seat at the table.
- Create stakeholder alignment early and secure buy-in before budgeting discussions. Don’t let the board meeting be the first time people hear your program asks.
Security isn’t just about minimizing risk—it’s a business driver that keeps everything running smoothly. When security is integrated into strategy, organizations recover from incidents more efficiently. The same IBM report notes that organizations with extensive security AI and automation identified and contained breaches nearly 100 days faster on average.
The power of financial storytelling
Instead of saying: "We need more budget for security training."
Say: "Without proper training, our employees are the #1 risk factor for ransomware, which could cost us $xM in downtime and revenue loss per day."
Instead of saying: "We need to upgrade this security tool."
Say: "Last year, we had x near-miss security incidents. The rising attack volume means our current toolset is outdated and puts revenue at risk."
Security does more than prevent breaches—it protects revenue, uptime, and brand reputation.
CISOs who integrate financial strategy into their security roadmap are more likely to get their budgets approved, while those who don’t will continue to struggle.
Looking for additional tactics to help you secure your budget for next year? Here are 6 Compelling Ways to Gain Buy-In for Your Cybersecurity Budget
Need help translating security into business value? Schedule a consultation. Our team works with CISOs every day to help them align security investments with business goals and secure executive buy-in.
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